Bill to reduce the penalty for exposing a partner to HIV triggers concerns
Dale Briese is a 35-year survivor of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, that causes AIDS.
On Friday, the Spokane resident urged state Senators to approve a bill to make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony if a person:
* knows he or she has HIV and has consensual sexual intercourse with a partner after being counseled by a health care provider about the risks of spreading the disease.
* the partner did not know the person had HIV.
* the person with HIV intended to transmit it to the partner.
The House of Representatives voted 57-40 to approve HB 1551 on Feb. 12. It’s now in front of a Senate committee.
Briese, 55, said it takes a lot of resiliency to manage the emotional baggage of stigma often attached to those who are HIV-positive and survived the AIDS epidemic.
“For myself, the largest mental anguish has been the felony language of the current law. I am not a potential criminal just because I am HIV-positive. The current felony language shames and generates stigma that can weigh heavily on those who are HIV-positive,” he said.
State Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, said when the Legislature approved the felony provision in the late 1980s, contracting HIV was essentially a “death sentence,” with most people dying within a year. Today, it is a treatable chronic condition and someone who in their 20s contracts HIV can live into their 70s on average, she said.
“The way our statute singles out HIV as special and different than other bloodborne pathogens is no longer appropriate. The fears and concerns legitimate from many years ago no longer apply. We are left with a statute which, in many ways, continues to perpetuate stigma that can be quite a danger to public health,” Macri said.
Under current law, a felony conviction for HIV-related assault can carry a sentence of up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine.
The bill would make it a misdemeanor, with a sentence up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. If a person lies about his or her HIV status to a partner, the crime is a gross misdemeanor, with a sentence up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
State Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, said she agreed that the stigma of those with HIV must be erased, but she questioned making the crime a misdemeanor.
“We need to send the message to people that you can’t just willy-nilly go around spreading this disease. There has to be a consequence. And I would say that for any [sexually-transmitted infection]. But this one is particularly concerning,” she said.
Rivers also noted that if the bill becomes law, it would still be a felony to knowingly infecting a child with HIV or a vulnerable adult, who is a person 60 years old or over who has been abused, neglected or exploited. She asked why the new law would have different penalties.
Using state court data, the state Health Department said in a 2019 report that 10 people were charged with an HIV-related assault felony between 1986 and 1998 and three people between 1998 and 2019, but the 13 cases are an under count because “data and information are not consistently reported.”
Lauren Fanning, a member of the Washington HIV Justice Alliance, said people most frequently prosecuted under the current law are young men, often with mental health, substance abuse, or cognitive issues.
State Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-University Place, said he’s struggling with the bill because people with HIV who knowingly infect multiple partners would not be charged with a felony and many misdemeanors are no longer prosecuted because of insufficient resources in the judicial system.
“I don’t know that prosecutors would look aside on this one,” replied John Wiesman, state Secretary of Health. The state Department of Health requested the Legislature to approve the bill.
Wiesman said changing the criminal law “creates an appropriate balance for our times.”
The bill expands the authority of state and local public health officers to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and criminal penalties would still exist for those who intentionally infect others with HIV, he said.
“This shift on focus toward prevention and treatment is the best path to reduce the spread of these diseases and best serves the people of the state,” Wiesman said.
O’Ban asked if there’s another sexually transmitted disease like HIV in which people must take a drug for the rest of their lives. Wiesman said that’s the case for those with chronic Hepatitis B who contract Hepatitis D. Also, those who have six or more herpes outbreaks per year tend to get put on lifelong medication, he added.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 5:45 AM.